3850 vs. 3870

zerok66 · Post by **zerok66** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:07 pm

Hi guys,

Any reason to choose one over the other... ignoring costs.

I dont game much, but do run a 30" dell monitor at silly resolutions. I would like to cool it silently, preferably not passively as my case suffers from poor airflow (OrigenAE X11).

Cheers,

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:00 pm

Well, from what I've read so far they seem to draw about the same at idle and the 3870 draws 20W more at load, which means that is ~20W idle and 90/110 ish W at load. By the numbers, the 3870 is 1.2 times as powerful as the 3850. The suggested USD prices are $179 and $249 if I recall correctly.

I know money is no issue, but it puts things in perspective nicely.

So, for $70 (39% more), you get a card that that is theoretically 20% faster and draws 22% more power at load.

Based on this, and the fact that you aren't a hardcore gamer, I think that the 3850 is a better buy for two reasons. First, you won't notice the difference between the two (unless the games that you do play are brand new FPSes) and second, it will be easier to cool the 3850 silently.

I hope the above helps a bit.

Krazy Kommando · Post by **Krazy Kommando** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:31 am

^i agree. but it depends on what games you play really

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:51 am

Krazy Kommando wrote:^i agree. but it depends on what games you play really

And what resolution you're willing to play them at.

ivan2006 · Post by **ivan2006** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:25 am

Lawrence Lee wrote:
Krazy Kommando wrote:^i agree. but it depends on what games you play really
And what resolution you're willing to play them at.

I have the 3850 and it is VERY quiet.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:37 am

there ought to be 512mb GDDR4 version of HD 3850 sometimes next year. By then, difference is only in clock speeds. However, both cards perfrom well in games. So question is your resolution you use.

oakdad · Post by **oakdad** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:44 am

Until then we will all have to dream about these with the built in after market coolers.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/pressfiles/77_reg1.doc
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/VG ... uctID=2622
http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.p ... d_id=68856

fabre · Post by **fabre** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:25 am

Do you absolutely want an ATI?

The 8800 GT 256MB should be out soon, and manufacturers are starting to release models that stray away from the reference board.
Shorter cards, different coolers and 3 phase power.
I am thinking of the Palit 8800 GT Sonic or Galaxy Geforce 8800GT HDMI to name a few variant.

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:31 am

ivan2006 wrote: I have the 3850 and it is VERY quiet.

Wanna buy a 3850 from sapphire, standard cooling, the question is "how quite is quite"

It's possible to know the config of your rig please?

Lensman · Post by **Lensman** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:42 pm

I've been thinking about getting one of these for my HTPC case. One factor that's driving me to the 3870 is that those seem to be the only ones with two slot cooling solutions. I would really prefer a design that exhausted the hot air out of the case rather than just recycled it.

zerok66, I think this issue might be of interest to you because of your airflow concerns.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:44 pm

fabre wrote:Do you absolutely want an ATI?

The 8800 GT 256MB should be out soon, and manufacturers are starting to release models that stray away from the reference board.
Shorter cards, different coolers and 3 phase power.
I am thinking of the Palit 8800 GT Sonic or Galaxy Geforce 8800GT HDMI to name a few variant.

the 512 meg ram versions of the 3800 series at his resolutions perform MUCH better

if he games
if he doesnt no biggie. still though, 3850 is good for older games and runs cooler than the rest as well as does UVD decoding

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:22 pm

3850 is a wicked card for the money, I've seen it as low as $159 with free shipping.

I've also seen the 3870 as low as $209. BTW, the suggested retail for the 3870 is only $219 IIRC.

I'd recommend the 3870 if you have a large monitor like that. You need all the horsepower you can get.... unless you don't game at all. If you don't, you should!!

3870 cooler is not silent, at least not according to MY opinion. You'd have to go aftermarket. If you have room, the S1 + fan is a good way to go, if not, might need to try something else like a zalman or maybe thermalright.

ghettojiggalo · Post by **ghettojiggalo** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:33 pm

isn't the only diff. between 3850/3870 are clockspeed and memory size/type? plz chime in if i'm wrong. i also read somewhere that ati is planning on dropping their retail price by $20 for both cards, should take effect after the holidays when stock should be plentiful.

i have a 8800gt on order from dell for $208+tax but as soon as they make a ati 3800 card that has 1gb of memory i'll buy it since ati has better idle power management

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:39 pm

Anybody experiencing squealing on the 3870 whilst moving your mouse cursor around? I'd hate to end up with an 8800GT because of this.

System specs in sig.

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:15 pm

zoob wrote:Anybody experiencing squealing on the 3870 whilst moving your mouse cursor around? I'd hate to end up with an 8800GT because of this.

System specs in sig.

You can ear electrical noise from 3870 when mouse is in movement? What kind of mouse, usb or ps2? Err, your sig is too small

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:37 pm

_MarcoM_ wrote:You can ear electrical noise from 3870 when mouse is in movement? What kind of mouse, usb or ps2? Err, your sig is too small

USB Razer DeathAdder... last time I've experienced this was back with a Radeon 9800 and an Intel P4 setup (noise disappeared when I switched to an Athlon XP and nForce2).

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:06 pm

My mouse makes a squealing noise, my computer was never quiet enough for me to hear it before. :/

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:24 pm

most mice squeal

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:26 pm

Are we talking computer mice still??

ghettojiggalo · Post by **ghettojiggalo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:00 pm

zoob wrote:Anybody experiencing squealing on the 3870 whilst moving your mouse cursor around? I'd hate to end up with an 8800GT because of this.

System specs in sig.

I used to have the same prob...turned out my mobo was notorious for this cuz of their crappy onboard audio. I bought a cheap sound blaster pci card and that solved it.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:28 pm

djkest wrote:Are we talking computer mice still??

nope

zerok66 · Post by **zerok66** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:59 am

Hi Guys,

Everything I do is at 2560x1600. I have had my 8600GT struggle a bit with MCE playing back movies at this res. I have had it up to here with nVidia cards. Every generation I have had has had some issue or another, all I ever read with Media Center users is how flawless the ATI seem to perform.

I do play the odd game, but not enough to justify buying a gamers card.

It is all down to what cost I can get a card for, ideally I am going to try get a card with 512MB ram... common sense states high resolution, high colour depth = mem.

Sapphire 11121-00-20R - 512MB HD 3850 is Â£106
Sapphire 21122-00-20R - 512MB HD 3870 is Â£125

Seems a no brainer really... if this does have a dual exhaust port then even better... but I assume that when changing to the aftermarket S1 cooler the dual exhaust thingy goes out the window?

zerok66 · Post by **zerok66** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:45 am

Right found this MSI 3870 512MB Over Clock edition in stock...

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func ... at2_no=137

Any reason to chose this over the Sapphire or vice vercer?

zerok66 · Post by **zerok66** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:08 am

Found the following review... look at these temperatures...

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/vi ... 2429&cid=3

So no brainer then, the 3850 with 512mb memory, now all I need to do is find someone with stock!!

Cheers,

seraphyn · Post by **seraphyn** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:18 am

Those temperatures are freakily low.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:32 am

zerok66 wrote:Found the following review... look at these temperatures...

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/vi ... 2429&cid=3

So no brainer then, the 3850 with 512mb memory, now all I need to do is find someone with stock!!

Cheers,

I feel like those temperatures are contradictory for the 3850....Since the HD 3870 can be passively cooled with a HR-03 with a reduction in temperatures versus the stock cooling, I think either one will be easy to quietly cool.

edit: here are some examples,
Legitreviews

Elitebastards

Techpowerup

the 3870 temps in the originally posted temperature plot agree with other review sources.

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:02 pm

3850 at a good price is an excellent value. 3870 vs. 8800GT is debatable, depending on prices that you use.

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:39 pm

djkest wrote:3850 at a good price is an excellent value.

I only want to know if it is decently quiet for a SPCR-boy, no one here had experience with a 3850 and stock cooling?

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:24 pm

spcr boys never use stock cooling

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:13 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:spcr boys never use stock cooling

Uhm... maybe i'm a spcr grandpa